Venezuela has been experiencing a political and economic crisis since 2014. To date, more than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country, according to the Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela. Of these, more than 6.5 million have relocated to Latin American and Caribbean countries, straining healthcare, education, and other social services.

USAID has responded to the unprecedented influx of migrants across the hemisphere. This support ranges from improving host government migration management, connecting migrants to quality social services, integrating them into the local economy and encouraging entrepreneurship, as well as addressing xenophobia.

Inside Venezuela, USAID works alongside human rights defenders, civil society leaders, independent media outlets, and a coalition of democratic actors in the hopes of restoring democracy to all Venezuelans. . Despite an extremely challenging political context, polling shows that two-thirds of Venezuelans still believe elections are the path to change. In that context, USAID seeks to encourage democratic transformation in the country, with a return to free and fair elections in 2024 and 2025.

USAID is also helping to address this man-made crisis by providing robust humanitarian support in Venezuela and throughout the region. You can learn more about these efforts from the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance.